Palpable tension has gripped the University of Uyo following revelations that the outgoing Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, allegedly manipulated the composition of the crucial Screening Committee saddled with interviewing aspirants vying to become the next Vice Chancellor. The move, which unfolded at the Senate session of Friday, November 14, 2025, has provoked outrage within the university community.
With barely two weeks left before the expiration of his tenure, Prof. Ndaeyo is said to have handpicked two junior professors—Prof. Emmanuel Akpabio and Prof. Blessing Irabor—to sit on a panel expected to grade and interrogate senior academics, some of whom have been professors for more than a decade.
Multiple insiders described the development as “a scripted ambush” and “a dangerous precedent meant to tilt the process.”
One highly-placed source told our correspondent: “Let me be very clear: Prof. Akpabio and Prof. Irabor have been told exactly what to do. Their job is not to interview; their job is to eliminate. Anyone considered an ‘enemy of Nyaudoh’ will not score more than ten percent. Take this from me—his preferred candidate will magically score above 100 percent.”
Another insider—who claimed he was planted within the VC’s camp as a pseudo-loyalist—recounted an unsettling conversation he allegedly overheard.
“The VC boasted that just as Prof. Aniekan Offiong helped him during his own screening years ago by scoring him 115 over 100, these two new professors will replicate the favour for his anointed successor,” he said.
The source continued:
“This whole thing is a recycling of favours. He initially wanted Prof. Offiong to succeed him, but when the handwriting changed on the wall, he quickly shifted loyalty. Now he wants to manipulate the process one last time.”
Even veteran academics in the university are furious. One visibly agitated senior professor asked angrily:
“How can a professor who became a professor three years ago, and another who became professor barely ninety days ago, sit in judgment over people who have been full professors for over ten years? What type of insult is this?”
FEARS OF PLANNED VIOLENCE
Perhaps more alarming are credible allegations of a fallback plan involving violence should the manipulation fail.
Highly dependable sources confided that certain actors loyal to the VC are mobilising external groups to disrupt the selection process.
One of them disclosed:
“The plan is simple: if their candidates don’t scale through, they will trigger chaos. They want a fight to break out so the entire process will be annulled. Some cult boys have already been contacted to create mayhem. The goal is to make everyone disqualified so that a neutral candidate— definitely not one of ‘Nyaudoh’s enemies’—will be imposed.”
The growing tension has left staff and students uneasy, with many calling on the Governing Council, security agencies, and the Ministry of Education to closely monitor the unfolding situation.
As one senior staff member put it bluntly:
“If Abuja doesn’t intervene now, we may witness the darkest succession crisis in the history of this university.”
The University of Uyo management has not issued any official response to the allegations as at press time.
